Threatened Lesser Flamingos at death’s door as Kamfers Dam dries up
‘It’s really a miracle that of the first 900 chicks relocated, only one of them died. These chicks have a zest for life and they are fighting to survive,’ says Birdlife SA CEO Mark Anderson
A colony of Lesser Flamingos in Kamfers Dam, Kimberley, are on the brink of annihilation as drought and infrastructure problems have dried the lake where they breed. The Lesser Flamingo is a threatened species with only about 80,000 of the pink birds left in the world. Kamfers Dam supports the largest flock of this species in sub-Saharan Africa, but it has dried up because of severe drought and because the pipe supplying treated sewage water from the Homevale Waste Water Treatment Works has collapsed. Environmentalists accuse the Sol Plaatjie municipality of mismanagement, but the municipality says there is nothing it can do about a drought. The municipality also admits that the pipe supplying the dam with water has collapsed, but that it is working to fix the problem. It blames gases in the treated water for the degradation of the pipe. Over the next couple of weeks an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 chicks will be removed from the lake and taken to sanctuaries around SA, including in Lee...
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